Spray booth compartment



May 2, 1933. w T, MCCOY 1,907,389

SPRAY BOOTH COMPARTMENT Filed June 22, 1929 IN VEN TOR.

/%z we 77/7 62) A TTORNE Y.

WALTER 'I'. MCCOY, 013 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR,

Patented May 2, 1933 UNrrEo PATEN critics.

TO THE R. C. M AHON COMPANY,

OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN SPRAY BOOTH COMPARTMENT Application filed .Tune 22,

This invention relates to spray booth compartments and the object of the invention is to provide a compartment or room for spraybooths'which is arranged to allow fiow of air into the room at either or both sides so that a constant fiow is maintained through the sides of the; room and through the spray booths and thence outwardly through the eX- haust stacks provided in the spray booths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of spaced walls forming'each side of the compartment, the wallsbeing arranged to allow air'flow therebetween into the compartment, the arrangement being such that in case of fire inthe compartment the fire must travel against the air flow to escape from the compartment in which it originates.

A further object of the invention is to provide a series of spraybooths spaced above the floor line of the compartments and so arranged that air may flow inwardly from the Walls of the compartment and beneath the edges of the spraybooth and thence upwardly through the discharge stacks which discharge the air from the spray booths and from the compartment sothat fresh air is maintained in the compartment at all times.

Another-object of the invention is to provide a compartment through which air may enter throughout the length of the sides 'to prevent the forming of dead air spaces which occur when a compartment of this type is arranged for entrance of air only at the ends.

These objects and the several novel features of the invention are hereinafter more fully described and claimed and the preferred form of construction by which these objects are attained is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a section'through a spray booth compartment embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the compartment partly broken away to show the construction.

The compartment comprises a pair of partition walls 1 and 2 extending upwardly from the floor line and a pair of depending curtain walls 3 and dis provided extending downwardly from the top of the compartment in 1929. Serial No. 372,982.

spaced parallel relation with the walls 1 and 2. This construction provides a space 5 on each sideof the compartment between the curtain walls and partition walls through which air may enter the compartment in a downward direction as indicated by the arrows shown in Fig. 1. Extending longitudinally of the compartment are one or more continuous spray booths 6 having longitudinal sides 7 preferably spaced from the floor on the supports 8 shown in Fig. 2 and a pair of rails 9 may be provided within each spray booth along which the articles to be spray painted may be moved. Each spray booth is provided with exhaust means such as the stacks 10 shown in Fig. 2 toward which the roof of the spray booth slopes so that the air will readily pass upwardly through the exhaust stacks. These exhaust stacks may be provided with a forced exhaust system for forcing the air out of the stacks if desired to increase the rate of movement of the air. 7

In the spray painting operation, particularly where lacquer is sprayed, a fine dust is produced which is exhausted or carried away by the air passing through the openings 5 in .the curtain walls and downwardly through the spaces 11 at the lower edges of the spra booths and thence upwardly through the spray booths and outwardly through the discharge stacks 10. By this arrangement an ascending current of air is produced about the operators and articles being spray painted'and this air tends to carry oif the line particles of paint remaining in suspension in the air and also carries 01f the fumes of the paint. The fine particles of dust which remain in suspension are usually highly inflammable and a small spark will often time produce a sudden fire which is very dangerous. This is one of the greatest dangers to be overcome in spray painting and the object of the spray booth compartment is to confine a fire of this nature entirely to the compartment and prevent its travelling to the other parts of the factory. Due to the inflow of air through the spaces 5 at the sides of the compartment the air flow prevents the fire from passing outwardly through this space as it would have to travel outwardly against a fresh air flow which contains no inflammable dust particles.

Another feature of the invention is to effect a continuous discharge of the dust laden air from the compartment to prevent sufficient accumulation of dust particles to produce a fire if ignited. In this manner the fire is confined entirely to the compartment and cannot readily escape through the curtain walls at the sides of the compartment. However, if further protection is desired, a sprinkling system may b utilized in connection with the spray booth compartment comprising a pipe 12 extending longitudinally between the curtain walls and provided with fusible plugs or heat released spray heads 13 which upon occurrence of fire are opened and fill the space 5 between the curtain walls with a spray of water to prevent escape of fire from the compartment. These pipes 12 do not interfere with the normal operation of the spray booth compartment as the air will readily pass inwardly through the spaces 5 and about the pipes 12 as hereinbefore described.

In some cases it is necessary that the spray booth compartment be built along side an outside wall. IVhen this occurs the outside wall forms one wall of the compartment, which of course, is a closed wall while the other wall of the compartment is made in the usual manner which allows the air to enter through the inner open wall. In all other respects this form is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description it becomes evident that the device is very simple and eflicient in operation, will reduce the fire hazard to a great extent, provides a proper flow of fresh air to exhaust the dust laden air and provides a device which accomplishes the objects described.

Having thus fully described my invention, its utility and mode of operation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is- 1. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of depending walls extending downwardly from the top in spaced parallel relation, a pair of partition walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment and positioned exteriorly of the depending walls, the partition walls extending in spaced parallel relation with the depending walls and above the lower edges thereof providing an opening in the compartment to atmosphere, a sprinkler pipe extending on each side of the compartment through the space between the depending walls and the partition walls, each sprinkler pipe being provided with heat actuated spray valves, a plurality of spray booths extending longitudinally of the compartment thus formec, the bottom edges of the side walls of the spray booths being spaced from the bottom of the compartment and exhaust stacks for each booth opening upwardly from the top thereof.

2. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of depending walls extending downwardly from the top in spaced parallel relation, a pair of partition walls extending upwardly from the bottom and positioned exteriorly of the depending walls providing for ingress of air to the compartment, the partition walls extending in spaced parallel relation with the depending walls and above the lower edges thereof providing an opening for ingress of air to the compartment, a sprinkler pipe positioned in the space between the depending walls and the partition walls, the sprinkler pipe being provided with heat actuated valves, a spray booth extending longitudinally of the compartment thus formed, and a series of exhaust stacks for the spray booth.

3. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of depending walls extending downwardly from the top toward the bottom of the compartment in spaced parallel relation, a pair of partition walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment in spaced relation with the depending walls providing an opening for ingress of air to the compartment, the partition walls extending above the lower edges of the depending walls, and a heat released sprinkler system positioned between the depending walls and the partition walls.

4. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of curtain walls depending from the top in parallel spaced relation, a partition wall extending upwardly from the floor in spaced relation. with each depending wall providing an opening between said walls for ingress of air, the upper edge of the partition wall extending above the lower edge of the depending walls, a paint spray booth extending longitudinally within the compartment thus formed, and an exhaust system for the spray booth discharging exteriorly of the spray booth compartment.

5. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of depending walls extending downwardly from the top of the compartment toward the bottom in spaced parallel relation, a pair of partition walls extending in spaced parallel relation therewith providing for ingress of air to the com.- partment, the partition walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment above the lower edges of the depending walls, and a vented paint spray booth within the compartment thus formed.

6. In a spray booth compartment having a top and bottom, a pair of depending walls extending downwardly from the top of the compartment, a pair of partition walls extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment in spaced relation with the depending walls providing for ingress of air to the compartment above the floor level thereof, and a vented paint spray booth extending longitudinally of and within the compartment thus formed.

7. In a spray booth compartment, a depending wall extending downwardly from the top of the compartment, a partition wall extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment, the partition wall extending in spaced parallel relation with the depending wall and above the lower edge thereof providing an opening in the compartment wall to atmosphere, a sprinkler pipe extending through the space between the walls and parallel therewith and a series of heat released spray valves in the sprinkler pipe.

8. In a spray booth compartment, a depending wall extending downwardly from the top of the compartment toward the bottom, a partition wall extending in spaced parallel relation therewith, the partition wall extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment above the lower edge of the depending wall providing a permanent opening for flow of air into the compartment, and a vented paint spray booth extending in 'spaced relation with said walls within the compartment.

9. A spray booth compartment having a floor, a top wall and side walls, each side wall consisting of a depending curtain or wall extending downwardly for a short distance from the top of the compartment and a wall extending upwardly from the bottom of the compartment in parallel spaced relation with the depending wall, the lower edge of the depending wall terminatingin a plane below the upper edge of the upwardly extending wall, a spray booth within the said compartment within which operators may be positioned for spraying articles therein, the said spray booth having side walls terminating short of the floor of the compartment, and an exhaust conduit opening to the top thereof and extending to the exterior of the outer compartment for causing a flow of air through the space between the side walls of the outer compartment and into the spray booth through the opening beneath the side walls thereof and thence at atmosphere.

W In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

WALTER T. MCCOY. 

